With the thick fog, moody shadows, old-fashioned architecture and flashes of color in neon signs and bright graffiti, the Gotham City presented in the new Warner Bros. action RPG Gotham Knights already looks like a classic. The newest Gotham Knights gameplay video shows how great Gotham will be in the game, but it has tough competition from previous games.
With the Batman: Arkham series and Lego Batman games that provide just some of the unforgettable versions of the city in video game history, Gotham Knights will have a hard time living. These are the best of what there is now.
Batman Begins (2005)
Movie tie-in games rarely turn out to be great successes, often struggling to find their own identity thanks to their reliance on the success of the movies they are based on, but Batman Begins was a surprisingly solid effort. Of course, the game mainly emulates the locations from the Christopher Nolan movie, and technical and graphical limitations prevented it from even doing a great job of that.
When it offers its own original locations for levels that take place between scenes of the movie, the game comes into its own. Sections like the one in which Batman performs acrobatics to traverse the underside of one of the city’s many bridges help shape this version of Gotham to a surprising degree.
Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (2003)
Batman: Rise Of Sin Tzu is a game that has largely been forgotten despite some similarities with the Batman: Arkham series in its beat ’em up gameplay and Gotham Knights with the presence of Batgirl and Nightwing. Being based in the DC Animated Universe meant the game already had a distinctive image of Gotham City to draw from.
While the game is ultimately so combat-focused that there aren’t many opportunities to stop and admire the backdrops, the variety of signature Gotham locations, including alleys and chemical plants, that make up the game’s backdrops helps give it a decent feel. to build atmosphere.
Batman: The Brave And The Bold – The Video Game (2010)
While video games with movie links are incredibly common, direct links to TV shows are a lot rarer and Batman: The Brave And The Bold – The Video Game is unsurprisingly one of the better examples. Its side-scrolling nature means it can feature beautifully drawn backgrounds that would look impressive even in the show.
Even in levels that take place in dilapidated abandoned buildings, these backgrounds give the feeling that this version of Gotham City is a huge and inhabited metropolis. While it may not differ enough from the show to justify playing the game, it’s still one of the best representations of Batman’s hometown.
Batman: Revenge (2001)
Based on The New Batman Adventures series, Batman: Revenge is still considered one of the best Batman video games by fans despite being more than two decades old now. The use of 3D graphics in 2001 means that anyone expecting a lot of detail, such as modern images of Gotham, will be disappointed.
Instead, the game makes great use of lighting to create a very atmospheric Gotham that still looks good today. In the game, Batman is on the run from the police, so this more shadowy version of the city reflects a hero who must hide in the shadows. Plus, while the flying sessions may be flawed, they provide a rare aerial view of the city’s streets and tunnels, all set against a sinister red backdrop.
Batman: Arkham City (2011)
As the name implies, Arkham City takes place in a very specific part of Gotham that is actually a city in its own right. The setting for the game is the super-prison that Quincy Sharp has created by demarcating a whole swath of the city’s slums and, besides swarming with villains, it’s arguably the closest players have had to a post-apocalyptic Gotham. City in video games.
What’s astonishing is how the abandoned Gothic buildings that have always been central to portraying the city are being repurposed in terrifying ways into Arkham City‘s portrayal. The dilapidated Sionis steel mill that Joker appropriates for his Fun House is just one example of how everything in the city has been twisted into something far more chilling.
Lego Batman: The Video Game (2008)
While it doesn’t have the same freedom to explore as the later Lego games, Lego Batman: The Video Game still manages to create one of the most memorable portraits of Gotham in video games by simply bringing together elements from previous versions of Batman. The old-fashioned Arkham in particular resembles Tim Burton’s film adaptation.
Levels often involve traversing rooftops and those brief glimpses of the city show it’s full of overdramatic architecture like gargoyles, but cracked roads and boarded up windows make it feel like a city that has really been lived in. All in all, it presents a much richer version of the fictional city than a player would normally expect, which is why it is still one of the best Lego video games.
Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)
It’s not the most loved title in the Batman: Arkham series but Arkham Origins‘ idea of going back in time to many years before the events of Arkham Asylum meant a chance to see Gotham City before it became the visual nightmare of the other games. Of course, instead of showing off the fancier elements, Batman spends most of his time beating up lowlifes in squalid abandoned buildings.
That only adds to the image of perhaps the most grounded version of Gotham from the… Arkham series. Plus, even the sections that take place on the city’s dramatic rooftops at night have a wild feel to them thanks to the heavy snowfall that’s perfect for taking place in the middle of winter.
Batman: The Telltale Series (2016)
The extremely linear style of Telltale games puts it at a disadvantage compared to other Batman games, allowing the player to explore the city much more freely, but Batman: The Telltale Series still did more than enough to make his Gotham City distinctive. It did this by focusing on specific locations, such as the overgrown, abandoned Cobblepot Park, where Bruce Wayne realizes how far the city he loves has fallen.
‘s animation style The Telltale Series is also perfect for the clean lines of more modern elements of this version of Gotham, such as the skyscraper penthouse where Batman crashes a criminal party. Perhaps the strongest point, however, is that the Gotham City of The Telltale Series is one of the most strikingly realistic of all images.
Batman: Arkham Knight (2013)
For players who loved Arkham City, Arkham Knight just delivers more of the same kind of chaotic, villain-filled Gotham City. Where Arkham City was limited to only the closed-off center of the Arkham District, Arkham Knight imagines that all of Gotham has been evacuated, except for criminals and Batman himself.
As a result, the player gets to see much more of the city and experience a much larger map with the beating heart of Gotham, although it now has a desolate post-apocalypse feel to it. Still, the city looks beautiful, thanks in part to the game’s great graphics, and while the Batmobile’s Battle Mode was unpopular with critics, the longer vehicle section meant a lot more of Gotham could be showcased.
Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes (2012)
While TT Games has made huge open world titles for both DC and Marvel, there’s one thing that makes Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes stand out Lego Marvel Superheroes and that is the incredible view of Gotham. Not only does it present one of the largest and most explorable Gotham Cities ever, but the game also manages to do so while giving the city a distinctive identity.
While the title Manhattan of the Marvel is deeply rooted in real life, Gotham City is dark, moody, overdramatic and full of gothic flair in Lego Batman 2. Since the city can be explored through a variety of vehicles as well as walking and climbing, there is also such a great chance to see a Gotham that is full of charming details.
About the author
0 Comments